Which one should I use USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3?

[donald_s]

USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3

I have a specific micro USB cable I am trying to use to charge my 8" Galaxy Tab 3 (it has a left angle bend, very hard to find). It doesn't charge the Galaxy, but it does charge a Lenovo tablet and my cell. Here is what I believe is happening. This cable is a data/power cable. The Galaxy detects the cable type and says "Oh this is a data cable, don't accept power". I did a proof of concept with this by hooking up a mouse to the USB port, and it works, so it is a data/power port.

Is there a way to turn off the USB data functionality in the Galaxy Tab 3 so it will recognize it as a power cable? By fiddling around with the cable, sometimes it does, so I know the tablet can accept power from this cable.

Thanks!!!!

Donald

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3

If you 'fiddle' around with the cable and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, I'm sorry but I think this is more a cable issue... wouldn't you say?

 

[donald_s]

Re: USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3

No. I moved the cable around to the point where the data pins weren't being engaged. But it's not an easy thing to do. The cable works flawlessly as a power cable for my Lenovo tablet. It works flawlessly as a data cable for the Galaxy. So it's not a cable issue.

I have learned that there are a data/power USB cables and there are power USB cables. What I want to know is, can you turn off USB data on the tablet? I appreciate the input, but not answering my question by trying to pin it on the cable isn't helpful.

Thanks again.

Donald

 

[SpookDroid]

Re: USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3

Sorry that the answer is not what you wanted to hear, and I'm sorry if I phrased it wrong. No, you cannot force a 'mode' in your phone. And yes, the pins INSIDE your cable are different, which is why 'fiddling' around might cause a false contact (and potentially something going wrong in your phone).

 

[Rukbat]

Re: USB power vs. data cable Galaxy Tab 3

The problem isn't that "the Galaxy detects the cable type and says 'Oh this is a data cable, don't accept power'", since the original factory cable is a 4-lead (data+power) cable. (The only other kind is a 2-lead cable - only the power pins are connected. That's only used for devices that don't transfer data on their USB ports, like wireless headsets or Bluetooth headsets, where the only purpose of the port is charging.)

Samsung sometimes plays games with the "standard" microUSB connector (it's supposed to be the 5 pin version, and that's what everyone uses) by using 9 pin or 11 pin connectors, so plain cables won't work properly - but that's on the data side. They still use the same pins as everyone else for power. I've never seen a Samsung device that wouldn't charge (maybe doing USB charging when connected to an AC charger because pin 9 has to be connected to pin 8 to say "AC charging") with any USB-to-microUSB cable.

I'd suggest that you try either a standard cable from another device (or buy one for a dollar at a dollar store - the only difference between a dollar cable and a $15 cable is hoe fancy it looks) or try the original cable. If it doesn't charge with either of those, I'd say that one of the power pins on the connector (inside the tab) had a bad solder joint, and it's now not connected to the board. (It's less than a penny's worth of solder to fix it, a $10 soldering iron, good eyes [or a magnifier] and steady hands - that will cost you at least $50 to have a shop do, because they have to disassemble the tablet to get at the connector.)